How To Break Your Opponent – Reading Their Plays

A great clash royale strategy guide will give you a lot to think about. Try to become a reactive player more so and focusing on getting stronger cards. You really hit many points home. Well done Valentine!

INTRO

Hello All – My name is Valentine. I like to consider myself a strategist. I love the mental factor that comes with strategy-based games. I love breaking down top quality gameplay and tactics and applying them to real life standards. So, it’s still true now, even if it’s not to as extreme of a degree as before.

Background

I want to make a name for myself in tournament play and I hope to do so in the coming weeks. Im an avid clash Royale player and I strive everyday to be considered the best and I will do whatever that takes by any means. Hopefully I can make a name for myself in season 2 of Super Magical Cup, so stay tuned.

INFO

I wanted to make a completely new strategy that has never seen light yet. I want to provide out-of-the-box strategies that can be applied to ANY strategy game, such as Clash Royale and real life scenarios, if such thing occurs. I want to prove to the community that I’m dedicated to making quality work to give detailed information about key elements of becoming a top player, to help the community grow in experience and wisdom and that I can be trusted when it comes to my work.

Strategy Guide Content

This Guide Will Be Broken Into 10 Sections

I. Breaking Your Opponent.

You're better than everyone you play against, you just have to prove it.

Now, with any strategy game, comes having to know your opponent. What’s the one way that you can guarantee a victory, forever, all the time and never lose? I’m talking Tournaments, Ranked Play or even Casual Matches. You need to be psychic.

If you were psychic you could break your opponent down with ease because you know their every move, countering them to the extreme. Even if they knew what you were going to do, you could do the exact opposite and totally debase their physical solidity– causing them a mental breakdown and winning by default.

Well, in actuality that’s impossible. Although a few people would disagree, I’m here to demonstrate the concept of Breaking your Opponent.

At tournament levels, not everyone you come across, will be a top player, good player, average player, or even a bad player. How can you break down your opponent to find out what type of player they are? You need to understand what a top player exceeds in, when it comes to physical qualities and attributes.

Critical mass of knowledge

Amazing Offense and Defense

Knowing when to attack

Reading their opponents patterns

Being able to tech against specialized meta decks

Playing smart

An ability to integrate all of this knowledge and examine it as an interactive dynamic system.

These are no-brainers. You’re probably wondering to yourself “I know all of this information, why am I not considered a top player?” To answer your question, I made up my own motto that can be applied TO ANY SITUATION IN LIFE.

My Motto: You’re better than everyone you play against, you just have to prove it.

We as humans have a very powerful skill embedded in our brain called Pattern Recognition

Now, with any strategy game, comes having to know your opponent. What’s the one way that you can guarantee a victory, forever, all the time and never lose? I’m talking Tournaments, Ranked Play or even Casual Matches. You need to be psychic.

If you were psychic you could break your opponent down with ease because you know their every move, countering them to the extreme. Even if they knew what you were going to do, you could do the exact opposite and totally debase their physical solidity– causing them a mental breakdown and winning by default.

Well, in actuality that’s impossible. Although a few people would disagree, I’m here to demonstrate the concept of Breaking your Opponent.

At tournament levels, not everyone you come across, will be a top player, good player, average player, or even a bad player. How can you break down your opponent to find out what type of player they are? You need to understand what a top player exceeds in, when it comes to physical qualities and attributes.

Critical mass of knowledge

Amazing Offense and Defense

Knowing when to attack

Reading their opponents patterns

Being able to tech against specialized meta decks

Playing smart

An ability to integrate all of this knowledge and examine it as an interactive dynamic system.

These are no-brainers. You’re probably wondering to yourself “I know all of this information, why am I not considered a top player?” To answer your question, I made up my own motto that can be applied TO ANY SITUATION IN LIFE.

My Motto: You’re better than everyone you play against, you just have to prove it.

We as humans have a very powerful skill embedded in our brain called Pattern Recognition

II. What is Pattern Recognition?

Instead of playing support troop (A) with your hog, play support troop (B) and this will surely force their card rotation.

. Pattern recognition describes a cognitive process that matches information from a stimulus with information retrieved from memory.

When playing Clash Royale you may see your opponent making the same plays or patterns. For instance, when you play Hog Decks, and they play Barbs and you can’t get tower damage. It’s really frustrating being countered to the point where you want to just close the app. It may also feel like they’re psychic. You need to force their card rotation, or make them play on your rotation. This takes time and experience.

i.e. Instead of playing (1) Hog Rider + Spear Goblins, play (2) Hog + Mini Pekka. When you play (1), your opponent will play Cannon + Zap. When you play (2), They will play Cannon + Goblins. You zap, if you play the latter. They’re now stuck with zap in their hand and can’t pig push because they don’t have their goblins (or said cheap troop).

This opens up leeway to getting a huge advantage over your opponent because they don’t have the proper card up in time because you messed up their rotation.

Note That’s why people panic when they see a lot of threats coming and don’t have the proper counter at hand. They waste elixir trying to scramble for the counter. So if you force this all game, you’ll surely win every time.

I never recommend trying to force your opponents card rotation without know their (8) cards, as doing so could lead to a backlash. This statement all boils down to ‘risk vs reward’.

Of course that is only one example, there are plenty of other ways depending on your deck that can force card rotations. That is where balanced deck-building comes in to play.

Another example, would be to use pre-emptive spells such as fireball at the right time. This is high-risk, high-reward and pays off so amazingly perfect, If done properly.

You should read more about Counter Push Guide

. Pattern recognition describes a cognitive process that matches information from a stimulus with information retrieved from memory.

When playing Clash Royale you may see your opponent making the same plays or patterns. For instance, when you play Hog Decks, and they play Barbs and you can’t get tower damage. It’s really frustrating being countered to the point where you want to just close the app. It may also feel like they’re psychic. You need to force their card rotation, or make them play on your rotation. This takes time and experience.

i.e. Instead of playing (1) Hog Rider + Spear Goblins, play (2) Hog + Mini Pekka. When you play (1), your opponent will play Cannon + Zap. When you play (2), They will play Cannon + Goblins. You zap, if you play the latter. They’re now stuck with zap in their hand and can’t pig push because they don’t have their goblins (or said cheap troop).

This opens up leeway to getting a huge advantage over your opponent because they don’t have the proper card up in time because you messed up their rotation.

Note That’s why people panic when they see a lot of threats coming and don’t have the proper counter at hand. They waste elixir trying to scramble for the counter. So if you force this all game, you’ll surely win every time.

I never recommend trying to force your opponents card rotation without know their (8) cards, as doing so could lead to a backlash. This statement all boils down to ‘risk vs reward’.

Of course that is only one example, there are plenty of other ways depending on your deck that can force card rotations. That is where balanced deck-building comes in to play.

Another example, would be to use pre-emptive spells such as fireball at the right time. This is high-risk, high-reward and pays off so amazingly perfect, If done properly.

You should read more about Counter Push Guide

III. Small Break-Down of Forcing Card Rotations

Forcing your opponents card rotation WILL be a lot harder than just playing 1 card.

It can be a lot more deep than this, you have to understand how certain cards make other cards react. So, let’s say you’re playing the common Miner, Princess, Spear Gobs, Minion Horde, Zap, Cannon, Pump, Mini Pekka.

There a few scenarios that could happen if you want to break their rotation.

Your starting hand: Pump, Zap, Spear Gobs, Princess

Opponents Starting Hand: Hog, Goblins, Zap, Princess

Scenario 1: You wait for your opponent to make the first move They pig push you with all their elixir and get 1000+ damage, due to horrible RNG. They now have Cannon up along with Mini Pekka, Spear Goblins, and 3 elix Minions. You most likely reacted to their push with zapping their hog and gobs. Your next card in rotation was cannon so you were forced to play that in the middle of the hog rider that was locked on to the tower — You’re now in reset mode, You have the option to, at 5 elixir play the pump. Mind you, with horrible card rotation, that’s a horrible idea because they can push you now with Mini Pekka + Gobs and zap is back in their rotation. It’s a rinse repeat cycle that keeps going all game until you forcibly change it. Never play pump until you have a card or two to defend with.

Scenario 2: You start the opening hand with spear goblins at the bridge to get some chip damage (I also referred to this as poking in my write-up.) they can either (a.) react to it or (b.) let them get damage. He chooses to ignore it and pig push. You now have Cannon and zap in rotation– you play Cannon in the middle 4 tiles from the river and zap their combo. You now have a better rotation just by playing 1 card.

KEEP IN MIND

Forcing your opponents card rotation WILL be a lot harder than just playing 1 card. It can be a lot more deep than this, you have to understand how certain cards make other cards react. Once you know that, you can put in hundreds of thousands of different scenarios to help exercise your brain. I just simplified to the easiest proportion to understand and get a grasp on. Sometimes to force their card rotation– you just need to play a threat that forces a reaction, or you cycle cards that can possibly leave you at a deficit, but give you value in the long run. This is all practice and can be learned through Experience and Time.

It can be a lot more deep than this, you have to understand how certain cards make other cards react. So, let’s say you’re playing the common Miner, Princess, Spear Gobs, Minion Horde, Zap, Cannon, Pump, Mini Pekka.

There a few scenarios that could happen if you want to break their rotation.

Your starting hand: Pump, Zap, Spear Gobs, Princess

Opponents Starting Hand: Hog, Goblins, Zap, Princess

Scenario 1: You wait for your opponent to make the first move They pig push you with all their elixir and get 1000+ damage, due to horrible RNG. They now have Cannon up along with Mini Pekka, Spear Goblins, and 3 elix Minions. You most likely reacted to their push with zapping their hog and gobs. Your next card in rotation was cannon so you were forced to play that in the middle of the hog rider that was locked on to the tower — You’re now in reset mode, You have the option to, at 5 elixir play the pump. Mind you, with horrible card rotation, that’s a horrible idea because they can push you now with Mini Pekka + Gobs and zap is back in their rotation. It’s a rinse repeat cycle that keeps going all game until you forcibly change it. Never play pump until you have a card or two to defend with.

Scenario 2: You start the opening hand with spear goblins at the bridge to get some chip damage (I also referred to this as poking in my write-up.) they can either (a.) react to it or (b.) let them get damage. He chooses to ignore it and pig push. You now have Cannon and zap in rotation– you play Cannon in the middle 4 tiles from the river and zap their combo. You now have a better rotation just by playing 1 card.

KEEP IN MIND

Forcing your opponents card rotation WILL be a lot harder than just playing 1 card. It can be a lot more deep than this, you have to understand how certain cards make other cards react. Once you know that, you can put in hundreds of thousands of different scenarios to help exercise your brain. I just simplified to the easiest proportion to understand and get a grasp on. Sometimes to force their card rotation– you just need to play a threat that forces a reaction, or you cycle cards that can possibly leave you at a deficit, but give you value in the long run. This is all practice and can be learned through Experience and Time.

IV. Understanding Your Opponents Strategy

Knowing your opponents, could lead to an automatic win, or force a draw if you're countered, if you play smart.

There are plenty of strategies in Clash Royale. You need to know your meta, and tech against it. If your opponent plays Dark Prince to stop a push, chances are they’re either running a Double Prince Pekka Deck or a variation of a beatdown deck, that is accompanied with the both Princes. You should never overcommit at the start of the game, wait for your opponent to make a play first.

Two examples of when to play first

You have every card in your hand for a strong push and they play a pump or when they play the counter in the opposite lane.

You want to get a good card rotation, so play cheap troops to get the desired rotation you need.

V. Pattern Recognition: Experience and Time

The first key element, is Experience

Experience is exposing yourself to multiple situations. With experience, you need to watch for patterns in your opponent and adapt to it. If something worked in one situation of a game, and a similar situation comes up, it’s a good idea to try what worked, isn’t it?

Another key element, is Time– Time is a necessary factor. Every player is completely different, no two people are the exact same– So you need Time to study a person’s individual patterns. If you’ve ever played on ladder, and faced a gimmicky deck and just got destroyed– Well, it’s because you didn’t have enough time to study their patterns or read them because it happened so quick. That wouldn’t have happened if it were a best of 3 because you could read their patterns after the first game.

If you combine these two key elements you will start to make more successful reads and it just becomes natural.

There are plenty of strategies in Clash Royale. You need to know your meta, and tech against it. If your opponent plays Dark Prince to stop a push, chances are they’re either running a Double Prince Pekka Deck or a variation of a beatdown deck, that is accompanied with the both Princes. You should never overcommit at the start of the game, wait for your opponent to make a play first.

Two examples of when to play first

You have every card in your hand for a strong push and they play a pump or when they play the counter in the opposite lane.

You want to get a good card rotation, so play cheap troops to get the desired rotation you need.

V. Pattern Recognition: Experience and Time

The first key element, is Experience

Experience is exposing yourself to multiple situations. With experience, you need to watch for patterns in your opponent and adapt to it. If something worked in one situation of a game, and a similar situation comes up, it’s a good idea to try what worked, isn’t it?

Another key element, is Time– Time is a necessary factor. Every player is completely different, no two people are the exact same– So you need Time to study a person’s individual patterns. If you’ve ever played on ladder, and faced a gimmicky deck and just got destroyed– Well, it’s because you didn’t have enough time to study their patterns or read them because it happened so quick. That wouldn’t have happened if it were a best of 3 because you could read their patterns after the first game.

If you combine these two key elements you will start to make more successful reads and it just becomes natural.

VI. Play On Your Card Rotation

It might seem impossible to get good trades with a bad card rotation, so force your opponent to play on your rotation.

This might sound a bit complex but it’s a lot easier when you understand it. Let me elaborate–

What this means is, make them play their cards on your rotation. Don’t let them force you to drop cards to cycle to defend. It doesn’t matter if you’re attacking or defending. If you let them force your card rotation to defend their push, you’re going to lose. So, play proactively.

a. Proactive – creating or controlling a situation by causing something to happen rather than responding to it after it has happened.

a. Reactive – acting in response to a situation rather than creating or controlling it.

There will some instances when you’re forced to play reactively but that changes when you gain momentum and force them to react to you rather than you react to them.

This might sound a bit complex but it’s a lot easier when you understand it. Let me elaborate–

What this means is, make them play their cards on your rotation. Don’t let them force you to drop cards to cycle to defend. It doesn’t matter if you’re attacking or defending. If you let them force your card rotation to defend their push, you’re going to lose. So, play proactively.

a. Proactive – creating or controlling a situation by causing something to happen rather than responding to it after it has happened.

a. Reactive – acting in response to a situation rather than creating or controlling it.

There will some instances when you’re forced to play reactively but that changes when you gain momentum and force them to react to you rather than you react to them.

VII. Stop Their Motives

Stop Their Motives

When you’re playing against someone and you read them and you know what their strategy is, disrupt their motives. If you know that they pig push, bait their goblins before they even think of pig pushing. You obviously can’t do this every game, every turn, every moment but you can do it when you need to win. Disrupting your opponents card rotation will ultimately lead you to victory.

When you’re playing against someone and you read them and you know what their strategy is, disrupt their motives. If you know that they pig push, bait their goblins before they even think of pig pushing. You obviously can’t do this every game, every turn, every moment but you can do it when you need to win. Disrupting your opponents card rotation will ultimately lead you to victory.

VIII. What To Do When You Have These Techniques Down?

Well, in order to know your opponent, you need to know yourself

You have to know the borderline on when to play your odds against High-Risk, Low-Reward and Low-Risk, High-Reward. You need to also practice this, so you know when the optimal time to make a play is, so just incase you misplay, you can still come back from it.

Study top players to dissect their strategies and how they play against certain cards to get their tower damage. Most often than not, they’ll play certain combos after you play their counters. If you study your own deck and study your own patterns you can counter them when they arise during battle and alleviate them. So, if you can get in their mind and read their every play, you’ll be golden.

Secondly– start poking at your opponent. Poking is referred to as low-risk, low-reward moves– you don’t get much damage doing them and you don’t take much damage doing them. This process is just to gauge your opponents reaction and trying to get a read of how they play against certain combos.

Furthermore– Start playing longer matches. I don’t want to hear “only play (X) matches a day to avoid tilting, etc etc.” Trophy ranks are nothing but a number that can be gained back in a day or so. Losing a hundred trophies in the process of making yourself a better and stronger player, is well worth it. Anybody can do this. How do you expect to get better if you’re not playing? Do you think Jason finished first because he played 3 matches a day to avoid tilting? Didn’t think so. He played 3,000+ games with the same deck to know what counters what and how to play against it.

Finally– It’s not about making reads at all times. You just need to make reads when it’s optimal and you need to get big damage in. That’s why it’s always important to play predictable in the start of the game and start mixing your patterns as you play. This scrambles your opponent and it’s hard for them to get a read on what you’re going to do. If you can’t get an exact read on your opponent, just take a guess. Consider their patterns and take into consideration the risk vs reward they get when they make an action.

You have to know the borderline on when to play your odds against High-Risk, Low-Reward and Low-Risk, High-Reward. You need to also practice this, so you know when the optimal time to make a play is, so just incase you misplay, you can still come back from it.

Study top players to dissect their strategies and how they play against certain cards to get their tower damage. Most often than not, they’ll play certain combos after you play their counters. If you study your own deck and study your own patterns you can counter them when they arise during battle and alleviate them. So, if you can get in their mind and read their every play, you’ll be golden.

Secondly– start poking at your opponent. Poking is referred to as low-risk, low-reward moves– you don’t get much damage doing them and you don’t take much damage doing them. This process is just to gauge your opponents reaction and trying to get a read of how they play against certain combos.

Furthermore– Start playing longer matches. I don’t want to hear “only play (X) matches a day to avoid tilting, etc etc.” Trophy ranks are nothing but a number that can be gained back in a day or so. Losing a hundred trophies in the process of making yourself a better and stronger player, is well worth it. Anybody can do this. How do you expect to get better if you’re not playing? Do you think Jason finished first because he played 3 matches a day to avoid tilting? Didn’t think so. He played 3,000+ games with the same deck to know what counters what and how to play against it.

Finally– It’s not about making reads at all times. You just need to make reads when it’s optimal and you need to get big damage in. That’s why it’s always important to play predictable in the start of the game and start mixing your patterns as you play. This scrambles your opponent and it’s hard for them to get a read on what you’re going to do. If you can’t get an exact read on your opponent, just take a guess. Consider their patterns and take into consideration the risk vs reward they get when they make an action.

IX. Evaluate Where You Are In-Game

You need to evaluate your position in-game.

If you’re in a dominant position, you should minimize risk/reward or start playing conservatively.

If you’re in a losing position, you should maximize risk/reward.

You need to know when you’re in said positions. Play calm and collective and then start making these decisions just around the half-way point. Doing this will not only result in making you a better player, but making you smarter as well.

If you’re in a dominant position, you should minimize risk/reward or start playing conservatively.

If you’re in a losing position, you should maximize risk/reward.

You need to know when you’re in said positions. Play calm and collective and then start making these decisions just around the half-way point. Doing this will not only result in making you a better player, but making you smarter as well.

X. Conclusion

When you know your opponents patterns and their strategy, you need to disrupt their motive. You should never play passive and allow them to get their troop combos off, always force them to play a card in their strategy to counter your cards and you’ll most likely walk away with a win. There’s no such thing as counter-decks, that’s all in your mind. Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean your deck is unbeatable but it does mean you have a fair chance of winning if you play smart and have a balanced deck. If you force their card rotation you automatically have an advantage. Every strategy has a counter, you just need to find it and tech against it, with the best of your ability. Disrupting their card Rotation will put you at an advantage right off the bat. It’s better to read their cards and wait for your chance to setup an opportunity to force their card rotation in your favor, right before double elixir– you can walk away with a win 99% of the time, when you master this technique.